The world expands again.
I swallow hard to force the chip down.
“Bambi,” she says over her shoulder, settling into a chair beside Emma that just freed up, “you really need to relax.”
Relax.
Like this is something I’m choosing.
I stare down at my food, appetite gone.
“Mate,” Alex murmurs beside me. “You alright?”
“Yeah.”
“She likes you,” he says simply.
I let out a quiet breath that might almost be a laugh.
If that were true, I wouldn’t feel like this.
Like I’m standing too close to something that could change everything.
Like one wrong move would break it.
Across the table, Christina glances at me again.
Our eyes meet.
She gives me a big grin.
Not teasing this time.
Something else.
Something softer.
It’s too much.
I finish my drink in one swallow and stand.
“I need to go.”
Alex sighs. “Phil—”
“I promised Grampy I’d drop some magazines off.”
It’s not entirely a lie.
He studies me, seeing through it anyway.
“You can’t keep running.”
I don’t answer.
Because running is the only thing I know how to do.
I risk one last glance at her before I leave.